Jay Jones launches first general election ad buy in Virginia AG race

Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general, rolled out his first television ad of the general election cycle on Thursday. 

The ad, which was first seen by The Hill, is a part of a six-figure ad buy going up across Virginia. 

The thirty-second spot features Norfolk, Va. Sheriff Joe Baron (D), Prince William County Prosecutor Amy Ashworth (D) and Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan (D) vouching for Jones’s record on public safety and law and order from his time as assistant attorney general and a former Virginia state delegate. 

Jones is seeking to oust incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares (R), an ally of President Trump, in the general election. Most recent polls show Jones leading Miyares. A poll released last month by the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University, showed Jones leading Miyares 47 percent to 38 percent. 

In Virginia, the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general are elected separately. The last time Virginians voted to split a ticket was in 2005, when now-Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) was elected governor and Republican Bill Bolling won the lieutenant governor’s race.

However, Miyares stands to be a formidable opponent, with many Virginia Republicans arguing that the attorney general is the strongest part of the Republican ticket. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Miyares has raised over $4,000 more than Jones in fundraising. 

On Wednesday,  Republican State Leadership Committee PAC and the Republican Attorneys General Association teamed up with Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s (R) Secure Your Vote initiative to launch a seven-figure investment to turn out voters in the attorneys general race and House of Delegates voters.